Summer Here I Come!

Hello Friends!

Summertime is here for me and I have just now started back up with the Bogey horse. Bogey has had an unusually lazy spring, as I was not able to get home from college as I was too busy writing my thesis, presenting research in Puerto Rico (Yeah, that's right - Puerto Rico! What an opportunity!), and graduating from college in addition to choosing a vet school to attend!

I got into all the ones that I applied to and ended up choosing Iowa State University! I'm so excited for this fall, but there is a ton to do to get ready.

Ok, enough about my spring, back to Bogey's. He was fat and lazy all spring - he ate and ate and that's about it. :D

Now, that I've been home I've been bringing him back with groundwork and yesterday was our first ride.

He was amazing! For not having being ridden for months he was awesome! We went over to my BHF (Best Horse Friend's) indoor arena and rode around with her. He only had a little buck/refusal on the lunge line while loping undersaddle and was awesome with me riding. We just tooled around and worked on the basics and legging him up again. Tonight, I'm planing on going to the arena up town with him and having our second ride. I hope it is as good or better than yesterdays - he was awesome!

Updates!

What a year! Apologies for not updating and keeping this blog current. The lack of updates are due mostly in part to my very busy schedule of applying for and working towards acceptance into veterinary school. This past fall I applied, had interviews in January and am now accepted into a school that I applied. I was accepted at the University of Missouri Veterinary school in Columbia, MO. I'm still waiting to hear back from the other schools that I applied to, but to obtain an out-of-state acceptance forebodes well for the future, and now I know that I have a place next year and will be attending a school next year!

The process has been long and daunting but so very rewarding now that I actually have an acceptance. If anyone has any questions about the process or needs advice how to best go about applying, I'd be more than happy to share.

Now, onto the Bogey boy news! Bogey and I had a great summer filled with some local open shows and teaching 4-H horse clinics. There were highs: successfully riding in a western pleasure class with only putting him into a shanked bit less than 24 hours in advance (oh, what can I say - I really trust my horse), and some great showmanship placings, but there were also some lows: blowing a hoof abscess and losing out on the last shows of the season, and some of his ongoing lameness issues.

When I look back over the summer, I can't think of it as anything but a total success - even with the health issues of my horse. I had never treated a hoof abscess before and this past summer Bogey gave me a doozie. What a great learning opportunity for a future equine vet. I also had the opportunity to help a neighbor with a nasty head wound - word to the wise: pull-ups diapers. They make the best and cheapest coverings for large wounds. All in all I had a wonderful summer, a busy semester and now am on my downward slide to graduation and entrance into veterinary school this fall.

This next summer I'm going to try to spend more time with the Bogey boy and showing as it will be my last summer in a long while that I'll have completely free without other obligations or education opportunities. I'm planning on going to a couple of AQHA shows this year (it has been a life-long dream to show at one) and I have the quality of horse in order to do so (Bogey's the only one of his siblings without points at the major shows (Congress & World)). I'm also planning on doing as many shows of our local circuit as the caliber there is unequal as open shows go. They say if you can win in our district you can do very well at MNQHA shows.

Those are the plans! Thanks for coming on this journey with me and just wait, soon you'll be reading about the adventures of a veterinarian and her Bogey horse, instead of a prospective student and the horse she loves.

Palomino Youth World Show

For those of us now stuck with a horse that has just abscessed, yep that's me and Bogey, the Palomino Youth World Show is now up and running. A live feed is available, and the Palomino World Show will follow the youth.

Palomino Youth World Show: July 13th - 22nd
Palomino World Championship Show: July 23rd - 30th

Live Feed for Youth Show online now!

Selling?

I've been putting up a couple YouTube videos lately of Bogey and I and a couple days ago I got a response to one that took me aback. (Yes, I promise to write about and post the videos, I'm just really behind! haha)

The message was from a previous owner of Bogey asking if I would be interested in selling him and that the person has "cash in hand". Wow! First I thought it was a scam, but amusing none-the-less and I messaged back asking the person's name and where they were from. Any smart scam artist would not respond back, and I know Bogey's previous owners and their locations from his papers.

Well, the person messaged back and it was in serious. I asked a couple trickier questions about my horse that only a previous owner would know such as what was his barn name when you owned him? I referred to Bogey as "Bogey" in all of my videos and the previous owner got the correct answer of "Lester". I personally do not want to sell my horse at all, but it is always entertaining to "field offers", and I might be able to get some really interesting information about my horse's past from the prior owner.

I only know Bogey's history back to his 3 year old year. It would be interesting to find out who actually broke him out and trained him. I'm messaging/emailing the person back as we speak those questions, but I haven't gotten a "cash offer" yet from this person.

Bogey's part of the family, and we both have a very strong bond together. I couldn't dream of selling him, and if I sold him I would not be in a position to buy another horse of his caliber for 5 more years because of the possibility of future veterinary school. Bogey's a horse I can leave at my mother's house and let him sit and relax all winter and come back the following spring remembering almost everything from the summer before. I don't know many other horses that can do that.

I don't want to sell him but money does talk, and how would I feel knowing I sold off my best friend? Yikes! I wouldn't even consider selling him for $5000 or less, but the $10,000 to $20,000 region - looks pretty good. Who could say no to that? What would people think if I said no to that? I would obtain more than 10 times my initial investment at that point and at the very least over 4 times what I've put into him.

Things to think about. What would you do?

Southern Belle Futurity Live Feed

Thanks Amber at All Around Horses for the heads up on the American Shetland Pony Congress! Those looking for something stock-horse to watch now can tune into the Southern Belle Futurity.

The Southern Belle Futurity

Live feed link: Click Here

War Horse Trailer

Looks like a great movie! Steven Spielberg and Dreamworks = great special effects and a great film!

The movie is based upon the youth fiction novel War Horse by Michael Morpurgo. The book runs through a story of a horse that is drafted to World War I and the horse's story of trying to come home again. I have not read this book yet, but it is on my short list! The book was then made into a play of the same name that was the winner of several Tony's, including best play, and is very famous on the London stage.

War Horse, the play, incorporated the intricate puppet stage horses shown in the link below.

War Horse Play: Puppet Horses

The makings of a United States tour of the play are in the works for 2012. If it's coming to a theatre near me, I will most definitely be in attendance!

Warm Weather

Worked with Bogey a little yesterday and today, but today was way too warm. Heat index of 105 - not going to ride in that weather just yet.

Both yesterday and today I did a little ground work with Bogey. Working on flexing, side-passing/moving ribs on the ground, moving hindquarters, pivots, and large and small lunge circles. Both days ending with some minor showmanship exercises - set-ups, pivots, backing.

Bogey was pretty pushy yesterday, so more backing up was ordered and today the pushiness was gone - great! But, he did pretend to try to bite me while I was asking him to move his hips over, that resulted in a slight come to Jesus back up session and he and I both forgot about it. Sometimes it's really nice having a smart horse, other times not so much - you really have to be on your toes, but you only have to correct them once.

With the heat index as it is, the groundwork sessions were conducted in the pole barn, and I hosed both Bogey and Nancy off at noon and then late afternoon after his work out. They both received their breakfast and supper a la' soup, soaked in water and they both loved it!

On not related to horse news, I did take my clippers out and shaved a couple long haired kittens. They are grateful now, but that was a different story when I was clipping them. Good thing they are so very tame. The weather is supposed to be a little cooler out tomorrow, hopefully I'll be able to take Bogey up to the arena and ride.